Page 49 of Pied Sniper

“I need a shopping trip. Stat,” I decided, the urgency making me hurry my words into breathless mush.

“That’s what’s on your mind?”

“It’s important. I feel my wellbeing ebbing towards unfashionable.”

“Your wellbeing is… what now?”

“I have become—” I paused, clutching my knuckles to my wobbling lip, “unfashionable.”

Solomon gave me a blank look. I gazed at my sneakers: they weretoocomfortable. And with that traitorous thought in my head, I walked to the stairwell. I had a job to do and I intended to be incredibly comfortable while doing it, a stage in my life I never thought I’d reach.

“What’s wrong with your clothes?” asked Solomon as the door swung behind us.

“They areverypractical.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“My clothes are practical.”

I wiped away the single tear that slipped from my eye. “Please don’t rub it in.”

“I’m stumped,” said Solomon. He stepped ahead of me, bouncing up the stairs like they were nothing. Over his shoulder, he said, “Let me take the lead since I have the gun, and we’re technically breaking and entering. There’s also the possibility that a kidnapper is lurking somewhere.”

I cheered up at the possibility of action, then soured again. I wanted clues, not a gun fight! I hurried after him, grateful for Lily’s ceaseless insistence on exercise, and by the time we reached the tenth floor, I barely broke a sweat. We entered and paused to look out the long window. “This angle suggests the apartment we’re looking for is at the other end,” said Solomon.

“Let’s go.”

“It’s a quick in, some light reconnaissance, photograph anything we see that looks pertinent, and then we call Garrett if necessary,” reminded Solomon.

“Works for me.” I pulled out a pair of plastic gloves from my back pocket and slipped them on.

“You came prepared,” said Solomon, doing the same.

“It seems prudent, given the level of B and E I’ve conducted lately,” I told him. We jogged to the end of the corridor and the final door and Solomon tried to open it.

“It’s locked,” he said, reaching for his tools once more. “Hardly surprising.”

“We should check who owns the building and whom they allow to access it,” I said. “Perhaps there’s a name on their crew list that’s familiar. Not that I have any suspect names yet.”

“You will,” said Solomon as the door clicked open. “Wait here while I clear the apartment.” He slipped inside and I stepped back from the door. A couple of minutes later, he returned and beckoned me inside. “No one’s here and the telescope is gone.”

“Maybe we got the wrong apartment? It’s only been hours since I first noticed the telescope.” Following Solomon into the main living area, I gazed out the window and scanned the opposite apartments, stopping when I realized I could see directly into Tiffany’s unit. I had a pretty good view but the telescope would have been perfect for capturing the finer details.

“See here?” said Solomon, pointing to the ground. “These three round marks in the carpet. They’re faint but I think they came from a tripod or could have. They picked it up sometime between you seeing it and now. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice any live camera feeds covering the building, which is poor security.”

I noted the fine sheen of dust coating the sparse furnishings. “This apartment looks like it hasn’t been lived in for a while.”

“The occupants probably left when the building was condemned.”

“Okay, but I meant it doesn’t look like any squatters took up residence. Whoever was watching Tiffany came here deliberately for that single task.” Solomon was poking around the blinds and I moved over to watch him. “Did you find anything?” I asked.

“Nothing. Not even a discarded candy wrapper. They were smart enough not to leave a trace.”

“Have you changed your mind to the possibility of the perp being a professional?”

He shrugged. “Could be. Or someone that’s simply more sensible than we initially thought. Or they’re very good at cleaning house.”

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